Paper equipment for calculating machines



March 5, 1940.l R. L. MULLER PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING'MACHINES Filed Oct. 30, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ig. i.

INVENTOR BYI'o/erL m/er n AORNEYS I March 5, 1940. R. L. MULLER 2,192,324

PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 30, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR YRo/fer L.. MII/er Y ATTO R N EYS March 5, .1940- R.. L. MULLER 2,192,324

PAPER EQUIPMENT FDR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Oct. 30, 1937 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 5.

INVENTOR BYRalfer L. N//er ATTRNEYS .Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PAPER. EQmMEN'r Foa MACHINES cAwULATmG vRobert L. Muller, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Burroughs Adding Machine Company, Detroit, Mich., a. corporation of Michigan Application October 30, 1937. Serial No. 111,879

'z claims.

This invention relates to a calculating machine. It concerns that portion of the machine which receives and holds the record material upon which printing impressions are made and it relates particularly to what is called a line finder.

to the proper line space position, and to enable him to readily read the entries.

A further object is to improve the operation and control of the mechanism of a device of the character mentioned.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a left side elevational view of the machine and carriage;

Fig. 2 is a left side elevational view of a portion of the carriage and reading mechanism associated therewith, and illustrating the platen in printing position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2 but illustrating the platen in throwback position for reading, the feed rolls in engagement with the platen, and the line nder in active `line reading position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating the platen in throwback position, the front-feed throat being open and the line ilnder being in inactive position; and

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of certain portions of the platen and throwback mechanisms. 'I'he invention is shown applied to a calculating machine of the type known as the Burroughs high keyboard. Thisy machine will be described only verybrieiiy as its construction is lWell known in the art because of the long period during which said machine has been on the market and also because of the numerous patents that have issued disclosing the various features of it. 'I'he present application is a continuation in part of my co-l pending application Serial No. 82,1731, filed June l, 1936, now Patent No. 2,147,051.

GENERAL CONSTRUCTION (Cl. 19V-127) be taken as required. The various mechanisms for accomplishing these results are inside the casing 2, but they have not been illustrated, as such illustration is not necessary for an understanding of the present improvement.J Y

The machine is driven by a. motor M which gives the machine a cycle of operation upon depression of a motor bar 3, also illustrated in Fig. 1.

The record material 4 upon which printing impressions are made is carried by a rotatable platen' P. This record material ordinarily comprises a relatively long paper sheet called a record sheet (not shown) that is adapted to receive a long series of entries, and individual paper sheets-v called work sheets that are inserted and removed from time to time, each of the latter sheets ordinarily receiving only a few entries. Normally, at' a predetermined time during a cycle of operation of the machine, a printing mechanism oi' which parts I5 and I6 are shown in Fig. 1, is operated to make impressions on the record material in lthe machine.

Provision ismade for printing in dii'erent co1- umns on the paper, andthe columns are usually selected automatically. For this purpose, a columnar-printing control means is provided. In the embodiment shown a traveling paper carriage C supports the platen P which carriage is normally tabulated from one column to another as an incident to each machine cycle, an automatic carriage return mechanism also vbeing provided.

'I'he tabulating and the return mechanisms are described in detail in Rinsche Patent 1,580,534. Provision is also made for enabling the work `sheets to be front fed with respect to the platen and, since the present invention is associated more particularly with this part of the machine, the front-feed construction will be briey described.

Front-,feed

The purpose of the front-feed is to make it easy for the operator to remove one work sheet-and insert another in front ofthe platen while the record sheet remains about said platen. After a predetermined operation of the machine, the

mechanism that holds the work sheet is operated so as to release said sheet to enable the operator to remove it, this operation being referred to as the opening of. the front-feed throat. Guiding devices are provided to enable a new sheet to 'be inserted quickly after .which the sheet is again Y gripped by closing the front-feed throat.

The platen P is mounted in a platen frame 5 that isipivotally carried by a shaft 6 supported by the paper carriage frame 1, the mounting being such as to enable the platento be moved from a printing position relative to the printing mechanism to a throwback or front-feed position and vice versa. The mechanism for throwing back the platen is ordinarily operated by power and it is automatically controlled as will be later explained. Pressure or feed rolls 8 are'provided which are urged to a position such that they tend to engage the platen to hold the record material against said platen in feeding relation thereto. As the platen is moved from printing to throwback position, these pressure rolls are normally separated from the platen to open the throat and release the work sheet.

A front-feed table I0 is also utilized for facilitating the front feeding of work sheets and for supporting these sheets during front-feed insertion into the machine. This table is pivoted to the carriage frame 1 at II and carries a stud I2 which engages the' upper edge of the platen frame 5, which edge is so formed as to cause the table to rock forwardly to sheet-receiving position as the' platen is moved to throwback position and to be rocked rearwardly to a more vertical or sheetholding position as the platen is returned to printing position. When in its sheet-receiving position, the table assists in directing and supporting front-fed sheets beneath the platen.

Opening and closing of the front-feed throat and movement of the platen from printing to throwback position for both paper inserting and reading operations and vice versa are accomplished and controlled automatically, as is more fully'disclosed in the Burroughs British Patent No. 382,613 of July 23, 1930. Briefly, this mechanism is as follows:

As the machine is given a cycle of operation a cam I8 on the motor operated shaft I9 is rotated clockwise into engagement with a stud 20 carried by a lever 2I that is pivoted at 22 to the machine, thereby rocking the lever 2I counterclockwise and tensioning a spring23 which urges the lever 2I in a clockwise direction. As the lever 2I is rocked counterclockwise, a slide 24 having connected thereto a link 25 is drawn downwardly where it is held by a latch 26 adapted to be engaged and released by studs 28 carried by a bail 29Vat predetermined carriage positions. Upon its release, slide 24 is moved upwardly by the spring 23 and raises the bail 29 which, in turn, rocks a pair,of levers 30 supporting the bail 29. The forward ends of levers 30 are connected to arms 3| iied to shaft 6, -which is rocked counterclockwise by levers '30, thereby rocking the platen frame 5 and raising the platen P to throwback position and lowering table' I0 to sheet-receiving position. The platen and associated members are returned to printing position by gravity aided by springs upon lowering of bail 29. The foregoing .mechanism provides for automatic carriage control and power operation of platen movement and throat opening.

Movement of 'the platen and opening and closing of the front-feed throat may also be key controlled. For this purpose a key is utilized which, upon depression, rocks a lever 36 connected by a link 31 to a lever 38. Movement of lever 38 rocksa bail 39, one arm of which is connected to a link 40 which in turn lowers a slide 45 which releases a spring-ined hammer 42 for engagingy and releasing latch 26. This mechanism is simi lar to that shown in said British Patent No. 382,613.

When the machine is in open throat condition, i. e.. when the platen I 0 is in raised orthrowback position for the purpose of inserting new sheets, the feed rolls 8 should be disengaged from the platen in order that the work sheets may be freely withdrawn or inserted into the machine and adjusted. A mechanism for causing such disengagement between the feed rolls and the platen has been provided for and described inthe aforesaid British patent, and a similar mechanism is embodied in the present invention although differing somewhat in its construction and operation as will now be described.

Line finder A line finder I3 (Figs. 3 and 4) is provided in the form of two side arms joined by a bail I3a the carriage.. This line finder is pivoted at I4 to the paper table I0 and it is urged counterclockwise to inactive position by aspring Ila.v

When in inactive position the line finder bail forms a portion or extensionof the paper table Ill. In fact, said line finder formsl the lower erator has inserted a new sheet, he can swing the line finder clockwise from its Fig. 4 position by means of the thumb piece I3b. This swings fines the last entry and enables the operator to adjust the sheet in the front-feed throat Ato proper line space position. The line nder can be held in line iinding position by hand, or a latch can be provided for holding it as described in said copending application Serial No; 82,731, now Patent No. 2,147,051.A After the sheet has been adjusted the operator releases the line finder whereupon it moves back to inactive position under the urge of its spring Ida. When, subsequently, the platen is returned to printing llik that extends for substantially the full width of j 35 the une finder bau to a positionsuch that it deposition and the paper table I0 is swung to sheetholding position, the line finder is out of the way. It not only does not interfere with the' movement of the paper table, but it is positioned so that it acts as a part of the paper table and assists in holding the work sheet about the platen.

When the platen is in printing position the last entries are not visible but, occasionally, itv

may be necessary or desirable to read such an entry. And it is desirame to be able to do thisf without opening the front-feed throat as suchy `opening releases the work sheet which might then get outv of position. Provision is made vfor throwing the platen back without opening the o 4throat which is usually called a "reading operation. The throwback position of the platen is the same as its front-feed position, the diiference being that in one `case the throat is open and in the other, it is closed. The operator' causes this throwback of the platen at will byv depressing the key 35 (Fig. 1), but it may also occur automatically under the control of the, carriage, as described in said British patent.

'I'he present invention provides for automatically moving the line finder to line iinding pou A' sition when the platen is moved back for the purpose of reading the entry. This makes it easy for the operator to read it. The mechanism for obtaining this automatic operation will now be described.

The pressure rolls 8 are carried below and forwardly of the platen feed by arms 43 fixed to a shaft 45 mounted in the platen frame 5. Fixed to the shaft 45 is an arm 41 which moves with the shaft and thus moves with the pressure rolls 8. 'I'he control of the feed roll and the arm 41 is governed by a stud 58 on the end of the arm 41 which, under certain conditions, engages a notch I in the end of a forwardly and downwardly extending arm 52 vof a three-armed lever 53 pivoted at 54 to the carriage frame 1.

As shown in Fig. 4, when the platen P and its frame 5 are rocked from printing position (Fig.4

2) to the raised or throwback position (Fig. 4) for the purpose of withdrawing or inserting and aligning a work sheet to the correct printing line, the pressure rolls 8 follow the platen in engagement therewith until the stud 50' engages the notched end` 5| of the arm 52 (Fig. 4) at which point further movement of the rolls'8 is halted while the platen P completes its movement to throwback position.

When the platen is thrown back and the front-feed throat opened as just described, the line finder is not disturbed but remains in the position shown in Fig. 4. Thereafter, the operator may manually rock the line finder to line nding position and raise the sheet to a readable position-with the line finder dening the line to which the sheet is to be adjusted.

When the platen is thrown back for the purpose of reading an entry it is not desired that the front-feed throat be opened and hence provision is made for allowing the feed rolls to remain in engagement with the work sheet. In the embodiment disclosed the platen is thrown back for reading purposes automatically and selectively under the control of the carriage.`

For this purpose an adjustable skid 56 is carried by the skip tabulating bail 51 supported by the carriage and adapted to engage a roll 58 carried by a member 58a. The parts 56, 51, 58 and 58a are used for skip tabulating thearriage as shown and described in the Rinsche Patent No. 1,580,534. 'I'he skidv 56 is positioned to engage the roll 58 in those columns in which reading is to occur. When the skid 56 engages the roll 58, in the column in which reading is to occur and where the platen is automatically. moved to throwback position, the skid 56 is forced upwardly in a clockwise direction causing an extension 59 on the left end of the skid to engage and rock clockwise an L-shaped lever 60 pivoted at 6I to the carriage frame 1. The' upwardly extending arm of the lever 60 has a stud 62 engageable in a slot 63 in the arm 52 of the threearmed lever 53 to raise or rock arm 52. from its normal position counterclockwise when the carriage reaches the reading column. Thus, when I the platen P is moved from printing to throw- 5I. As a consequence, the feed or pressure rolls A clockwise. 'platen frame 5 to full throwback position is com- 8 are permitted to remain in engagement with the platen P throughout its entire movement to throwback position and while it remains therein,

and cause the sheets about the platen to be held,

in position without any possibility of slippage.

When the platen is thrown back for reading an entry the line finder I3 is automatically moved to active line finding position and in so moving it acts to raise the upper end of the work sheet to a substantiallyv vertical position so that the line'that is dened may be easily read by the operator. This is accomplished by the following means.

The three-armed lever 53' is-formed with an upper forwardlyextending'arm 64 which carries a stud-65 at its forward end in position to engage the end of a lever 66 pivoted at 61 to the forward arm of a -leve'r'68 pivoted at II to the carriage frame 1- and urged in a clockwise direction by a spring 10. Normally lever 66 is retained in its counterclockwise position by stud 65 but when lever` 60 is raised by skid 56 lever 53 is rocked counterclockwise to remove stud 65 from the lower end of lever 66 to permit lever 66 to rock clockwise for reasons which will later appear. Lever 66 is formed with a notch 12 in its upper end portion which is adapted to engage a stud 13 carried by an extension of the upper portion of the line nder I3 when the lever 66 is in its clockwise position as shown in Fig. 3.

As the platen frame 5 nears the end of its throwback movement a stud 14 carried by thek platen frame 5 engages the lower rear end of lever 68 and rocks the latter counterclockwise which, in turn, causes lever 66 to be moved upwardly; As a result of this upward movement of lev'er 66, the stud 13 is moved and it rocks the line finder I3 Accordingly, as movement of the pleted the line finder I3 is rocked clockwise so as to engage and raise the sheet into an upright visible position and to indicate the last line of printing as shown in Fig. 3. 1

Thus, when the carriage reaches a position where it is desirable that the operatorwread the entry, said operator need do nothing. The platen is thrown back automatically to throwback position, the line iinder is moved automatically to a' line-finding position, Athe upper end of the sheet is Amoved to an easily readable position, and the line to be read is defined by the line finder.

When the operator again returns the platen to printing position, the parts move to the position of Fig. 2. As the platen moves from the Fig. 3 position toward printing position, the stud 14 releases lever 68 which is thereupon moved clockwise by its spring 10. This tends to move the shoulder 12 away from the stud 13 but the stud follows the shoulder for a distance because the l again acts to move the line finder.l But, if the platen is thrown back with the front-feed throat opening, thelever 676 is moved so that the shoulder 12 does not engage stud 13 and the line finder is not moved to line-nding position.

' been provided in which, when the platen is thrown back to a reading positionzwith the front-feed throat closed, and when the paper table is moved printing purposes. as shown in Fig. 2.

to a sheet-receiving position, the line nder is automatically moved to a line-finding position where it not only defines the line to be read but holds the' upper end of the Worksheet in a read-` able position. When the platen is returned to printing position, the line finder is returned to inactive position and the paper table, together with the line finder, is moved to a sheet-holding position to hold the paper about the platen -for Although the foregoing description has set forth one form of this invention as applied to a Burroughs high keyboard bookkeeping machine, it-

will be apparent that the invention may embody other specific forms and may be applied to different types of business machines. It will also be understood that changes and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as delned in the appended claims.

'I'his patent discloses a species of a broader inve'ntion disclosed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 254,790, filed February 6, 1939, where the selective control and automatic operation of a device for holding a sheet about a platen when the platen is moved to a readingfposition is claimed without regard to whether or not it is a line finder and without including the details of the present patent.

I claim:l l

, 1. In a front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen movable from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a throwback position and vice versa, front-feed means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means having portions movable from a closed to an openthroat condition and vice versa; a. line nder movable from an inactive to an active line .nding position relative to said` platen, selectively controllable line-finder moving means operating automatically during selected movements of said platen to throwback position to move said line ndr to line nding position, means for selectively controlling said line iinder moving .means, said line nder moving means having portions acting to hold said line nder in said line-finding position and said line inder having portions acting to hold the upper end of an inserted work sheet in substantially vertical position to enable the entries to be easily read, and restoring means for returning said line finder to inactive position, said line nder moving means and line nder being constructed and arranged so that as said platen is returned to printing position said line finder will be released to enable said restoring means to automatically f able independently of said paper chute lfrom an inactive position to an active line nding position relative to said platen and vice versa, line :,icasas iinder moving means acting automatically during selected movements of said platen i'rom printing to throwback position for moving said line i'lnder to line nding position, said line nder having portions acting to hold the upper 5 end of a work sheet in substantially vertical position, and means automatically operating, as said platen is returned to printing position, to move said line finder to a position to assist in holding the work sheet about said platen.

3. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen movable from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a throwback position and vice versa, means for moving said platen from one position to the other, a front-feed paper chute movable from a sheet-receiving to a sheet-holding position and vice versa, a line nder'movable from an inactive position to an active line tlnding position relative to said platen and vice 20 versa, line-finder moving means acting automatically during selected movements of said platen from printing to throwback position for moving said line iinder to line finding position, said line finder moving means also acting to hold said line nderin line nding position, said line nder and its moving means being constructed and.arranged so that, as said platen is returned to printing position, said line fin'der will be disengaged from said moving means, and means automatically operating as said platen is returned to printing position to move said line finder to a position to assist in holding the work sheet about said platen.

4. A front-feedy machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen movable froma printing position relative to said printing. mechanism to a throw-back position and vice versa, means for moving said platen from one position to the other, a front-feed paper chute movable from a sheet-receiving position to a sheet-holding position and vice versa, a line iinder movable independently of said paper chute from an inactive position to an active line finding position relative to said platen and vice versa, line-nder moving means acting automatically during selected movements of` said platen to throwback position for moving said line nder to line nd/ing position, and means automatically operating, as said platen is returned to printing position, to move said line finder rearward to a position to assist in holding the work sheet about said platen.

5. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen movable from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a throwback position and vice versa, means for moving said platen from one position to the other, a front-feed .paper chute movable from a sheet-receiving to a sheet-holding position and vice versa, aline iinder having a line-finding blade of a length substantially equal to that of said platen, said line finder blade being movable independently of said paper chute from an inactive to an active line iinding posi'- tion relative to said platen and vice versa, selectively controllable line-nder moving means operating automatically vduring selected movements of said platen to throwback position for moving said line finder blade to line nding position adjacent said platen, and means. automatically operating as said platen is returned to printing position to move said line nder blade to a position to assist in holding the Ainserted work sheet about said platen.

6. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage, a platen carried by a vframe that is movable so that said platen may be moved from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a throwback position and vice versa, a line finder movable from an inactive position to an active line nding position relative to said platen, and means selectively conditioned by said paper carriage and operated by said platen frame as saidfplaten is moved from printing to throwback position for moving said line iinder to line nding position automatically.

'1. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage, a platen carried by a frame that is movable so that said platen may be moved from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a throwback position and vice versa, a line finder movable from aninactive position to an active line finding position relative to said platen, line-nder moving means, means selectively conditioned by said carriage and operated by said platen frame as said platen is moved from printing to throwback position for moving said line finder to line iinding position automatically, restoring means for returning said line nder to inactive position, said line iinder moving means and line nder being constructed and arranged so that as said platen is returned to printing position and as said line nder is moved to inactive position for line nding, said moving means will be disabled so that, upon the next movement of said platen to throwback position, said line iinder moving means will not move said line nder unless said moving means is reconditioned by said carriage.

ROBERT L. MULLER. 

